My Favorite Kind of Weekend

This past weekend Dave was home for his full three days.  Logging is finally (mostly) done so he doesn't have to work every other Fridays anymore.  Woo!  We had a great weekend--my favorite kind, in fact--because it was a mix of family stuff, yummy food, helping friends, and festivity preparations.  Oh, and ice cream treats.

Friday morning we took Eddie to gymnastics 15 minutes early so he could play in the toy area before class.  When I walk in there at 8:59 am for a 9 am class, he gets shy and sometimes doesn't want to participate.  It annoys me but I don't want to get upset with him since independent participation is something he needs to learn to do on his own.  So we decided to give him some "warm up" time of his own at the gym.  We've only tried this once, but it worked!

The boys took off after that to get new tires on Dave's car while I got some stuff done at home.  In the afternoon, we chaperoned a field trip to the pumpkin patch for Eddie's daycare.  Our minivan was stuffed with car seats, kiddos, and pumpkins.  The kids played on the haystack, got to pet all manner of baby animals (goats, pigs, kittens, ducks, chickens, donkeys, etc.), and picked out their own small pumpkins.

Eddie and Isaac played with their pumpkins a lot--by picking them up and sitting on them.

Eddie and his buddy Isaac.  Aren't they adorable?

What a strong boy!

Can I put 'miniature goat ' on my Xmas wishlist?

This is Abby.  Doesn't Dave look good holding a baby girl?

Afterward, we went home and I made a yummy dinner of post roast, wild rice with pan gravy, roasted Brussels sprouts, and a sugar free apple pie for dessert (I used honey instead).

Dave and Eddie bought me flowers while running errands that day (so sweet!) and having them on the table prompted me to use our wedding china (Waterford's Ballet Ribbon pattern) for dinner that evening.

Saturday morning we ate breakfast and then scooted out the door to Cassie's for a parent work day at the daycare.  It was a busy and productive 5 hours--the gates were mended, grass and flowers planted in the yards, the school room windows were trimmed out, a fence was removed, and garden beds were made out of recycled pallets.

Work party pizza break.  The kids got to make masks in the school room while the parents worked outside.

Pallet planters--we made two double stacked ones like this and then three single stack ones.  Cute, huh?  We had some pallets at our house and then I found more at my building near the dumpster.

On our way home we stopped at Dairy Queen for Blizzards, yummy.  Eddie needed a poop break and insisted on using his red potty seat instead of the gross restaurant bathroom (I don't blame him).  Of course, he was playing with the leftover potting soil in the trailer while he pooped and flung some of the soil into my Blizzard cup while I took this picture.  I guess I deserved that...

Yeah, that's an action shot of pottying AND throwing dirt into my Blizzard.

That night I made enchiladas using left over pork roast and turned a partial jar of tomato basil sauce into enchilada sauce by adding a bit of this and that.

We always have cooked beans and cooked brown rice in zippy bags in the deep freeze, as well as tortillas and cheese in the fridge so dinners like these are a snap.

We watched Best in Show on Netflix that night while eating some of the pie (with ice cream).  I checked on Eddie that night before we went to bed and found him wearing his mask.

Sunday morning we had IHOP copy-cat cornmeal pancakes for breakfast before I scooted out the door to run some errands.  I had to replace my new phone at Verizon because it kept freezing, return/buy some stuff at Old Navy and Target, and then pop into Costco for a few things (including Polish dogs for each of us for lunch).

Breakfast.

We voted...did YOU?  I sure hope so.

While dinner was marinating (chicken in tandoori sauce), we went on our first family bike ride, where each pushed our own weight.  At least for the ride there...  Eddie did great on the 1.2 mile ride from our house to Slide Hill Park.  Dave led the way with Eddie behind him and I stayed close enough to Eddie to remind him (constantly) to stay away from the white line that separates the bike and car lanes and to watch where he was going.  He doesn't know his "right" and "left" sides very well yet so I was reminding him to stay right behind Daddy the whole time.  Sheesh.  When he got too close to the while line, I'd scoot over into the car lane a little (while signaling) to act as a barrier/warning to any nearby cars.  All the motorists were very considerate and slowed waaaaaaaaaaaaay down for us in those cases.   Gotta love Davis for that!

Biking Bowers

At the park we mostly biked between the giant concrete slide and the play structures, which are on opposite ends of the park.

Going down the biiiiiiiiiiiiiig slide.

"Ride the dolphins, Mama!"

Eddie was most displeased (read: tantrum) when I made him ride back home in the bike trailer.  He didn't understand that the setting sun would make it VERY hard for him (and cars) to see.  Despite the whining and crying the WHOLE 12 minutes home, we did survive our very first family ride.  Woo!

That night I baked the tandoori chicken while I whipped up a batch of an Indian vermecelli dish I found on Pinterest.  I've made it before and it is soooooo good and such a nice alternative to our regular curries with rice and naan.  Eddie liked both dishes so much he had seconds of each. 

Vermicelli upma made with fresh bay leaves and pecans instead of curry leaves and peanuts.

While cooking we also carved our pumpkins.  Not surprising at all, Eddie was most interested in using the knives ("saws") instead of the actual Jack-o-Lantern end products.  In fact, he insisted on keeping a knife plunged into the side of his pumpkin.  Every day he goes out onto the porch and "saws" some more.  That poor pumpkin...

Eddie drew the face on his pumpkin all by himself (plus the "practice" one on the newspaper).  Dave made the rough cuts for him and Eddie did the rest.

I feel sorry for Eddie's pumpkin...

Eddie told EVERYONE who came over before Halloween that Daddy's pumpkin has teeth, Mama's doesn't, and his has no mouth.